Australasian Dentist Magazine May June 2021

Category 12 Australasian Dentist A ccreditation of Dental Continuing Professional Development (CPD) has commenced across Australia & New Zealand – it’s time to ask ... is your Dental CPD Accredited? In consideration of the recent Scope of Practice changes and Recertification requirements for dental practitioners across Australia and New Zealand, the Dental Education Accreditation Committee (DEAC) has commence the task of accrediting both providers of dental CPD and their activities, for the benefit of practitioners; the profession; and the public. The problem CPD is an umbrella term used to describe a plethora of learning activities which dental practitioners engage in to develop, enhance and maintain their knowledge and abilities throughout their professional careers. In recent years, the number of individuals and organisations claiming to provide appropriate CPD and the volume and variety of activities claiming to represent appropriate CPD, have grown exponentially, with education becoming a big business. While all dental practitioners have an annual CPD obligation in order to comply with the requirements for ongoing Registration and Recertification, there have, to date, been very few safeguards in place to ensure that CPD being undertaken is of the requisite standard to achieve the goals of career-long learning. Additionally, there has been a dramatic rise in complaints against practitioners over recent years, with the vast majority being related to the standard of clinical care1, requiring disciplinary bodies to prescribe courses of corrective quality education, to ensure standards are met. The solution As a result, serious concern exists regarding the creation of a CPD perfect storm – practitioners being compelled to engage in CPD activities but failing to perform their own due diligence; focused solely on fulfilling an arbitrary quota instead of engaging in a conscious and proactive quality assessment; while being misled by commercially focused CPD providers making a variety of claims as to their education credentials, often listing compliance with a variety of paid accreditation services based in the UK, USA or Europe. To address these concerns, accreditation for both providers of dental CPD and their activities has been introduced across Australia and New Zealand, with the Dental Education Accreditation Committee developing a framework for performing these functions. Paralleling those processes used to accredit dental schools and programs of study leading to initial provider registration, DEAC CPD accreditation functions have been developed with reference to the CPD standards, policies, guidelines and re-certification requirements of the Dental Board of Australia and the Dental Council of New Zealand, filling a void and providing vital assurances as to the quality and integrity of ongoing dental professional development and competencies. By applying an impartial and objective assessment of the structure, content, legitimacy and value of CPD Providers and their activities, the DEAC is able to work with providers of CPD to develop, such that may meet the accreditation standards, rather than arbitrarily denying accreditation. Providing a framework, support and guidance to the dental profession in relation to CPD best practice, affords clarity and certainty for: Dental practitioners, in how best to meet their professional obligations for continued registration and recertification CPD providers, in how best to develop appropriate CPD activities The safety and protection of the public, giving the community confidence that dental practitioners maintain competency standards throughout their professional careers. What to look for The DEAC qualitative, two-tier accreditation process allows both CPD providers and their accredited activities, to bear “DEAC Accredited” symbols. Activity symbols carry a two-character code, where the number relates to the number of accredited CPD hours, and the letter relates to the type of CPD – “N” for Non-Scientific and “S” for Scientific. Note that while a provider may be accredited, not all of their activities may have achieved accreditation and both symbols should be displayed. u References 1. https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Publications/ Annual-reports/Annual-Report-2020/ Notifications.aspx Is your dental CPD accredited? n ws APPLE + ALOE We explored flavour combinations. And we discovered apple, aloe vera and fresh mint. CURAPROX 950 ppm Fluride .... Apple banner.indd 1 23/11/2020 2:32:43 PM